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Date	Title	Body
9 weeks 15 hours ago	Fisch v. Pep	Those quotes are describing the offense we had when Jedd Fisch was our passing game coordinator.   2017 was a different offense, with a different passing game coordinator.
10 weeks 1 day ago	Scot Loeffler	Boston College 2017 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 101 Boston College 2016 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 124 VA Tech 2015 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 72 VA Tech 2014 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 94 VA Tech 2013 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 91 Auburn 2012 S&P+ Offensive rank: No. 73 Instead of hiring coaches on the offensive side of the ball based on familiarity with one particular (outmoded) scheme, I would suggest we do what we did with Don Brown: hire a college coach with consistent past college success.  This isn't a guarantee of future success, but what is it in the numbers above (for Loeffler) or the numbers for Browns/Colts offenses that would suggest that it is more likely for those coaches to bring highly productive offenses to Michigan?
10 weeks 1 day ago	Offensive coordinator	The biggest change at PSU was that they brought in Joe Moorhead.  If we had made a similar move this offseason, we would be looking at a much brighter future.  While we might not have OSU/Alabama talent, we do at least have top 10/15 talent.  And coupling very good talent with an innovative, modern college offense and excellent coaching can lead to pretty amazing results.
10 weeks 4 days ago	Unwillingness to move on from disaster on offense	Harbaugh's unwillingness to pull the trigger on a change after one of the worst passing offenses in UM history, be it out of a desire to help a friend/good human being get a "soft landing" at a new job or UM not wanting to eat three years of an extremely expensive, ill-advised contract, is probably the biggest sign so far that my expectations for Harbaugh were too high.  UM has some built-in disadvantages against programs like Alabama/OSU -- we don't cheat in recruiting, our state is not as talent-rich, etc.  The administration has opened up the purse strings for Harbaugh at an unprecedented level (and it can be justified).  But bringing in the Cleveland Browns' OC, running an outdated "pro-style" offense (I put it in quotes because successful pro team offenses are much more like modern college offenses), and then not being attuned to just how bad the results have been are all not good signs.  I'm glad the RPOs in the Super Bowl caught his attention.  I wish, however, he had been paying attention to successful college and pro offenses for the past few years, and had chosen to go with a modern, successful approach after the 2016 season ended and he was faced with replacing Fisch.
10 weeks 6 days ago	2018 Passing game coordinator vs 2016 Passing game coordinator	(And QB coach and WR coach.)
11 weeks 6 days ago	Georgia's OC offseason	Looking at endless hours of tape, studying the top 10 colleges offenses of the past year and the top 10 NFL offenses of the past year.  Learning from Oklahoma's offense, Penn State's (Moorhead's) offense.  Adding in RPO. https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/12/31/georgia-jim-chaney-rose-b... I have no sense that Pep and Drevno are approaching the dumpster fire of the past year with this approach -- a willingness to learn, evolve, adapt.  At best, we have the metaphor of continuing to pump the same water pump, hoping that eventually water will come out.  That's not what Georgia did.  (And I think Georgia is an outlier for other reasons as well.)
11 weeks 6 days ago	Even younger on defense than offense	If youth was the cause of the problems, our defense would have fallen off a cliff this year.  It didn't.  We have excellent, proven defensive coaches. We brought it in an NFL (not college) OC, who led one of the worst offenses in the NFL.  Prior to that, he was fired from a different NFL team, which also had less than stellar offenses.  The two years he was OC at Stanford, Borges at Michigan put up better offenses (and didn't have the benefit of Andrew Luck).  He was also OC at Howard, where his offenses were also, again abysmal.  He may be an excellent person and human being.  Why, however, is anyone surprised that our offense (and especially our passing game) regressed significantly under his watch?
12 weeks 6 days ago	2016 v. 2017	In 2016, we had Jedd Fisch.  In 2017, he moved to UCLA.  UCLA's offense this year (its one year under Fisch) improved dramatically (Greg Robinson to Greg Mattison level improvement on S&P+).  Meanwhile, we brought in the OC from the Cleveland Browns (one of the worst offenses in the NFL), who had been let go from the Colts the year prior.
13 weeks 4 hours ago	Please hold on to the ball at least two steps pass the goal line	Just saw the first TD highlight.  Immediately thought of all those plays where runners have dropped the ball just as they were crossing into the end zone....
14 weeks 3 days ago	LSU's 2017 offense akin to our 2016 offense, not 2017 offense	2017 S&P+ Offense Ranking: LSU: 42nd Michigan: 86th
14 weeks 3 days ago	The defense lost more (player-wise) than the offense	There were far more starts among the players returning on the offensive side of the ball.  Despite the youth and inexperience, the defense did not crater.  The offense was historically bad.
14 weeks 3 days ago	We are pulling for you, Ace	And thank you for sharing with us.  You are not alone.
14 weeks 3 days ago	Talent	Georgia just signed 9 out of the top 50 players in the 2018, including 6 five-star players.  We signed none.  Some of those top 50 players will play well as true freshmen.  (Also of note: Alabama is trying to poach our one true elite recruiter (Patridge).)   If I had to weigh the two, coaching/scheme on the offensive side is limiting us far, far more than recruiting.  According to 247Sports, we had the seventh highest team talent in the country this year.  Yes, Alabama, OSU, Georgia, and USC beat us out, but we were still well within the top 10, and ahead of teams like Stanford or Oklahoma.. That said, given the in-state talent disparity between Michigan and states like Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California, the fact that we do not cheat in recruiting the way SEC/certain ACC teams do (we thankfully hung on to Gary despite the inducements that our AD publicly mentioned were offered by another program, but we have clearly lost others), and that we have somewhat higher academic standards (e.g., we basically do not take JUCOs), we will likely be unable to consistently beat out Alabama, USC, Georgia, Texas, and LSU recruiting-wise (when those programs are not cratering).  I think the better model for us is Oklahoma.  Not a ton of in-state talent, not known for shady recruiting practices.  They were ranked #16 in the country in team talent this year.  They have a good amount of talent, but they are not going to out-Alabama Alabama.  Rather, they utilize an explosive offense with Air Raid principles, and that offense gives the chance against even the best defenses (as in their game against Georgia this year).
15 weeks 1 day ago	Sam Pittman to Kurt Anderson	Arkansas might not have the same level of recruits as Michigan, but they recruited fairly well, and very consistently under Bielema -- always or almost always ranking in the 20s of 247Sports composites for recruiting classes.  Nonetheless, their offensive production did suffer when Sam Pittman was hired away by Kirby Smart to Georgia and Anderson was hired to replace him.  Pittman: 2014: #22; 2015: #4.  Anderson: 2016: #39; 2017: #43.
15 weeks 1 day ago	Top 20 average S&P+ last four years	I like the idea, but I think you may have the wrong numbers for Enos: 2014: 88th (at CMU) 2015: 4th (at Arkansas, with Pittman) 2016: 39th (at Arkansas, after Pittman left for Georgia) 2017: 43rd (at Arkansas)
15 weeks 1 day ago	Primary reason	His offenses historically have been very, very bad.  (Auburn in 2012; Virginia Tech in 2013-2015; Boston College in 2016-2017.)
15 weeks 1 day ago	Exact opposite	That would be the exact opposite approach.  Don Brown had no prior to connection to Michigan or Harbaugh, but Harbaugh researched who had the best college defense statistically (and a history of success as a college DC).  Loefler's name would not pop up with that type of search.  (Boston College's offensive S&P+ ranking this year was No. 101, even worse than Michigan's.)
15 weeks 1 day ago	2015 and 2016 versus 2017	We had a different QB coach and passing game coordinator in 2017.  Note that the passing game coordinator and QB coach who left UM after 2016 ended up at UCLA, whose S&P+ Offensive ranking jumped nearly 60 spots this year under his command.
15 weeks 2 days ago	Borges's worst year (and Greg Robinson's worst year)	Even in Borges's worst year (2013), we still had an offense that ranked in the top 50 in Offensive S&P+.  This year, we were 86th -- i.e., much worse.  Our offense this year was even worse than our defense in 2010 (in RR's last year, with Greg Robinson as DC), which was ranked 81st.
15 weeks 2 days ago	His last (of two) years coaching NCAA	It's worth noting that he had a thirteen year run in the NFL, then coached as a high school OC for a year, coached at Stanford for two years, and has been back in the NFL for the past seven years.
15 weeks 2 days ago	Not sure	I'm not sure I follow or agree with you, but either way, I don't how that recommends Roman.  Even though the talent is closely aligned in the NFL, he could only coordinate an offense into the top 20% of teams once over six years.  That is not stellar.  Admittedly, that is better than hiring the OC of the Browns, with one of the absolutely worst offenses in the NFL.   Also, P5 teams do appear frequently in the bottom half of the 130 teams when it comes to Offensive S&P+ ranking.  For instance, we were 86th this year.  (I believe we were 44th in Al Borges's last year.)
15 weeks 2 days ago	Harbaugh needs to find a way to retain Partridge	The fact that Saban wants to poach him says it all.  Excellent coach and excellent recruiter -- elite teams (like Alabama) go after assistants who are both.  Crucial that we find a way to retain him.
15 weeks 2 days ago	Out of 32	It's important to remember that there are only 32 teams in the NFL, unlike the 130 in the S&P rankings.  So that #16 in 2014, for example, would be the equivalent to a #65 ranking in the S&P in college.  There's only one year in that six year run in which his offense finished in the top 20% of NFL offenses.  Given what appears to be an absolutely awful hire last year (from one of the worst NFL teams), this hire might be an improvement, but it is definitely Harbaugh doubling-down on people he or his brother know, instead of looking for who is producing the best offenses (like he did when he went after Don Brown as a defensive coordinator).
15 weeks 2 days ago	Overall	Overall, it seems like we might gain a slight bump in recruiting prowess (assuming we can hang on to Patridge) with these changes.  But plenty of folks are saying Roman hates recruiting (he has only spent two years coaching at any level in college), so the bump is limited.  If Harbaugh doubles down on the old NFL friend approach this off-season, I sure hope he demands that they pull their weight on the recruiting trail, even if it doesn't come naturally to them.  A conservative NFL offense not geared to the college game combined with lackluster recruiting is unlikely to lead Michigan to the results the fans are looking for.
15 weeks 3 days ago	2013 UM offense vs. 2017 UM offense	2013 UM offense (under Borges, after which he was fired): S&P+ Rank No. 44. . 2017 UM offense: S&P Rank No. 86.
15 weeks 3 days ago	It's all on Harbaugh now	The fanbase and program have given him incredible amounts of resources and support.  He was the perfect candidate and the stars aligned to bring him here.  Going forward, it will all depend on him.  Does he take the approach he did on defense (hire the best guys for the job, based on their resume, even if he hasn't worked with them before) or does he take the approach he has largely done so far on offense, hiring people he knows who are former NFL coaches, who have not adapted to the college game, who do not have a track record of success in the college game, and who have little interest (or skill) in recruiting?  If he sticks to the latter, it is unlikely that even consistent top-10 or top-20 defenses will be able to counterbalance just how bad our offenses will be.  We have institutional/structural limitations that prevent us from being on the level of Alabama or Georgia consistently (much less in-state talent, we don't cheat in recruiting, higher academic standards, etc.), but without a change to how we approach offensive coaching (and recruiting by the offensive staff), I don't see Harbaugh having the Bo-like tenure that could be attainable, that most of the fanbase would be happy with, and that he might want as well.
15 weeks 4 days ago	Notre Dame brought in Memphis's OC after last year	Are we willing to make a similar move, instead of relying on the OC of one of the worst NFL teams?
15 weeks 4 days ago	With offensive coaches, we ignore past results	Or perhaps we wanted to install the Cleveland Browns offense....  In which case, mission accomplished!
15 weeks 4 days ago	Georgia	Just signed 9 out of the top 50 players in the country (to our zero), including 6 five-stars (to our zero).  If you have a significant talent advantage, old school pro-style isn't that bad. (Although Oklahoma is still beating them as I type this, even though Georgia has the vaunted defense, while Georgia is facing a much worse defense.) Michigan is not located in a state with the talent of Georgia and does not cheat at recruiting.  Georgia can't be our model.  Oklahoma might be the best program to emulate.
15 weeks 4 days ago	Georgia	And they just signed 9 out of the top 50 players in the country (to our zero), so this idea that we will beat these teams with an unimaginative pro-style 1980s NFL offense -- when they have the better athletes -- is foolishness.

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